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User blog:Johndoe-m9/Flaming Pillars and Shattered Souls, Part 1
A long time ago... (An ancient city is seen shaking and about to collapse. While many people run away from the city in panic, two woman are seen fighting each other with swords. The taller one overpowers the smaller one with a kick and confronts her) Fighting Woman 1: You don’t know the true meaning of this civilization, sister! We’re meant to thrive and expand while decimating anyone near our path! Fighting Woman 2: (clashes with her sister) Nor'vanne, this is not you! You’re supposed to protect this city with your heart, not your sword! Nor'vanne: Again, you reprimand me for my weaknesses. Let me assure you that you will not be living in Xerda much longer, Flo-Idde! (Nor'vanne raises her sword to finish off Flo-Idde, but the ground cracks and the warrior is pushed away by debris, sending her to her doom) Flo-Idde: (gasps) NOR'VANNE, NO!!! (Nor'vanne screams and falls to her death in the opening of the earthquake. With not much time to mourn, Flo-Idde quickly runs out of Xerda with the last few civilians. The survivors outside Xerda see the last of their kind rushing at them while Xerda collapse into nothing but rubble) May 24th, 2019 (Inside a fancy green house, Martine is seen sleeping on her bed with her sleep mask and curlers on) BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! (Martine slaps the alarm clock’s button, canceling the sound. She then wakes up and takes off her sleep mask, revealing her tired and moody face) Martine: Ugh. (sighs) This must be the second time Cathy’s gonna ruin my beauty sleep, that’s for sure. (Martine comes out of bed, revealing her silver nightgown, and goes to her makeup desk. After placing lipstick and Crème de la Terre on her face, Martine goes to the bathroom to wash her face and brushes her teeth. She then takes out her curlers and combs her hair before putting on her usual headband. Martine goes back to her room to change and her clothes and goes to her makeup desk again, now placing eyeshadow and eyeliner on her eyelids. Martine then goes to the living room to start her day) Martine: (looks around) Good. This better be the least of mes tragédies. Martine Meunier (Grimsborough PD Chief Medical Examiner); Age: 29, Height: 5'5", 125 lbs, Blood: B+ (Martine goes to the kitchen and gets some grapes, coconut water, and slices of bread. She also grabs a knife and slices her hand a bit, seeing the blood spill out before it regenerates. Martine, feeling something tingling in her head, looks at the window in worry. In her eyes, she sees a blue figure resembling ROZETTA buzzing about) Martine: ROZETTA? (The blue figure disappears, puzzling Martine. She then shakes her head a bit and continues making her breakfast. The mysterious entity is seen watching Martine from afar. The blue figure appears near the entity as they emit a blue flame) Mysterious Entity: Martine Meunier... An Xerdan descendant? This will be a challenge... (The entity disappears as a ball of blue energy floats about. The energy flies over Grimsborough aimlessly and dashes all the way down, phasing through the ground) Criminal Case: Conspiracy Crusaders (クリミナルケース: コンスピラシークルセイダーズ) In the 12th Precinct... (Rupert is seen walking into the precinct with a box of his belongings. Upon entering, he sees two officers arguing with each other) Rupert Winchester (Former Grimsborough PD Lab Chief); Age: 61, Height: 6'1", Weight: 159 lbs, Blood: O+ Officer 1: And could you tell me again what’s your crazy-ass doing on my drive? Officer 2: Yeah right, as if I do anything to your USB! You liked to pushing me everywhere like when I was having a bunch of coffee! Officer 1: (sarcastic) Like you’d eat everybody’s time to enjoy their pain! Maybe your favorite coffee can be a deuce to deal with! Officer 2: Hey! (pokes his finger at the officer) Nobody says crap about my Paulman Coffee! Officer 1: Why not have somebody as you to talk sh*t about your damn coffee?!?! (The officer tries to snatch the other officer’s badge, leading to a struggle. Rupert tries to intervene, but a woman wearing a hoodiecomes by and makes Rupert move out of the way) Woman: Hey, hey, hey... what's with the pushing? Officer 2: Something that’s not about you, lady! Woman: Well, wouldn't it be about me if I see some coffee fragments spread all over the floor? (The woman points to the bits of coffee beans spread all over) Officer 2: Everybody drinks coffee, why are you pointing that out? Woman: And how is that pocket doing here? Officer 1: Don’t touch... (The woman swipes the drive from the officer’s pocket and examines it briefly. She gets her phone out and plugs the drive in. She sees photos of coffee everywhere on the phone and checks the officers’ names, “W. Williams” and “R. Morgan”) Woman: (pulls out the drive) Mr. Williams, is this your drive? Williams: Well yeah, it’s my drive. Why would I leave it somewhere else? Woman: Would the drive happen to be Morgan's? Morgan: First, it’s Redd. Second, I don’t know... (The woman swipes something away from Morgan) Redd: Hey! (The woman uses Morgan’s drive and plugs it in her phone, revealing some pictures of the office. She raises an eyebrow and gives the drive to Williams) Williams: What? That thing’s not mine! Woman: Then explain why your fingernail scratches are on that USB, W. (Williams examines his drive to see scratches, making him gasp in shock) Williams: What the?! It is mine! Woman: (to Redd) And would the same-colored USB be coffee-scented? (Morgan sniffs his USB and gasps too) Woman: Well, if you boyfriends are done here with this prattle, I gotta skidaddle. (The woman walks past Rupert as he watches) Rupert: Lady? Woman: So you're watching the whole thing, ? Well then, allow me to introduce myself: Call me Adamas Blank, the new girl of the team. Adamas Blank (Grimsborough PD Recruit); Age: 21, Height: 5'6", Weight: 151 lbs, Blood: AB+ Blank: You can call me Blank, if you want. I'd won't care. (Blank goes outside, leaving Rupert dumbfounded. Rupert then goes up to the third floor, where he enters the Chief’s office) Diane: Rupert, are you here to get your job back? Rupert: I am, but could you tell me about Adamas Blank: the new person here? She sure does have an observant quirk to start. Diane: It wouldn’t be much a surprise considering that we’re open to recruit others since the neohuman attack... You see, Blank is one of the newest recruits out there about to become one with the force. She may a bit peculiar, but she’s funny and creative in such matters. It’s been a long time since you were gone, so she’ll be willing to help you out. (revealing a police badge) Welcome back to the team, my old friend... (Rupert smiles and grabs the badge, happy that he is back again, but becomes unsure of himself as he begins to leave) Rupert: Diane? (Diane focuses her attention to Rupert) Rupert: Is anybody outside Grimsborough aware of our statuses? Diane: Well, I’ve haven’t looked at this matter further yet... not after what happened to me yesterday... Rupert: (sadly) We’re all victims out there, Diane. We have to be sharp-eyed on what will happen, and where will it happen... (smiling slightly) but I hope the future of Grimsborough may be light (Rupert leaves while Diane is left reading her files) Somewhere in the streets... (Jones is seen quickly bicycling through multiple houses and buildings, ready to go to work. He then makes his bicycle leap over cars and people before landing on the back wheel, which is held by King Platinum) Jones: (bicycling) Whew! I haven’t been doing some good exercise since last November! No wonder my quads are slightly bloated... David Jones (Grimsborough PD Senior Detective), Stand Name: King Platinum; Age: 39, Height: 5'10", Weight: 181 lbs, Blood: O+ Jones: Well, What do you guys expect me to do? Go train in the gym while my Stand ruins the fun? It doesn’t mean that I’m fat... like some of you, but I’m slightly overweight. All of that punching and speed fighting at "her" doesn’t help at all, so that’s why I’m using that bicycle I bought a year ago. Still in pretty good shape after almost 6 months, am I right? (As Jones continues bicycling, the entity appears upside-down on a utility pole wire staring at him. Jones looks at the entity in confusion and stops, only to find nothing. He shrugs and continues bicycling while the entity looks behind a mailbox, spying on him again. A manhole cover then pops up near Jones, startling him as King Platinum’s arm quickly slams it down, allowing smoke to come out of the sewer) Jones: (confused) Smoke? Where did that came from? (King Platinum manifests near Jones and phases through the sewers, finding nothing unusual until he spots a blue figure in front of his sight. He then phases upwards and approaches Jones’ ear) King Platinum: Jones, there is nothing going on with the sewer systems, but I believe there is somebody hiding here. Could it be another supernatural being? Jones: King, why would there be another Stand User around here? ROZETTA’s dead, so there’s nothing to worry about. King Platinum: But why would smoke come out of the pothole? It wouldn’t make any sense for a engine to be in here! Jones: Well, you worry it later when we get to the department. Now come on, my car’s still needs a waxing tune-up and I still have 20 minutes left. (Jones and King Platinum leave while the entity watches by the window inside a room with a blue figure aside them) Old Town, 11:49 AM (Gloria and Rook are seen investigating several stone distortions and different languages in a archaeological site that stretches to near Old Town. Ray comes by to check on the two) Gloria Hayes (Police Detective); Age: 42, Height: 5'4", Weight: 200 lbs, Blood: AB+ Secret Agent Jeffery Rook (Homicide Detective); Age: 27, Height: 5'9", Weight: 167 lbs, Blood: O+ Ray: This is peculiar. First there were reports of a blue woman showing up, and then we get to see Xerdan "lourpas" existing on our doorsteps. Gloria: Indeed. But it wasn’t the first time we dealt with something similar. Rook: Whatever that is, it can’t be Emerson’s involved in this. He’s already rotting in the Raft with a taste of his own medicine. Gloria: Thanks goodness we were able to get the Gear Systems out of our butts. Having to hold one the entire week is killing me! Gloria: Well, back to the topic: Ray, may we listen to what these "lourpas" are? The name sounds strange like a wildly distorted fruit. Ray: Well, as you can see, lourpas means insight, which goes to their purpose of them. Xerdans have a tendency to carve a stone into a distorted shape like this... (shows the detectives one shaped stone) ...and this. (shows the detectives another shaped stone) Whenever these civilians wanted to have a time of expressing their thoughts, they would nearby stones to create words like... (Ray becomes shocked of what he sees: a stone with menacing Xerdan words. In his eyes, he sees the translated version) The snitch with an R, we will like a word... (Another man wearing clothes similar to Cathy’s and a pink wig comes by, confused of Ray’s behavior) Cathy Impersonator: Dude, what’s up? (Ray snaps out of it and turns to the man, confused) Ray: Mrs. Turner? Have you taken hormones lately? Or are my glass still rusting as usual? Cathy Impersonator: What are you sayin'? (takes off the wig) Is it about the hair? (Rook and Gloria stare at the impersonator, unamused) Gloria: Dougland, what are you doing with Cathy’s clothes? Dougland: Um... Wasn’t it really supposed to be convincing to the other guys here? Dougland Calibur (City Surveillance Operator); Age: 26, Height: 5'6", Weight: 148 lbs, Blood: B-'' Rook: If you guys are thinking about where’s Cathy now, she’s at home. Alex has to be here with his new child, so Dougland’s taking the role. Though it wasn’t really simple for starters... He thought he could act and DRESS like Cathy. It’s kinda annoying, but we’ll deal with it later. Rook: (spots a man and smiles) Hey, DC, isn’t there a jaywalker passing by? I bet the police cars are coming by in... (looks at his watch) 12 seconds. '''BRRR... RING RING RING RING RING RING!!! (Now out of his "Cathy" impersonation, Dougland dashes off, leaving Cathy’s clothes behind, which Gloria catches with a burlap sack) Ray: Should we acknowledge the fact that your friend is running around in a set of underwear and instead of the simple clothes he’s hiding the entire time. (Rook and Gloria stare at each for a moment) Rook: We’ll deal it later. CRASH! Rook: ...or now. (Rook and Gloria quickly chase after Dougland while Ray continues examining the stones. A woman wearing a skirt from afar is seen walking a fair distance away from Ray. She then gives out a menacing glance, with a gold spark on her eye) '''''Maple Heights' Dog Park, 10:37 AM (Martine and Rita are seen in a dog park, which is fully restored, enjoying time with Hector, now taller. Other people are seen playing and walking with their dogs) Rita Estevez (Grimsborough PD Field Expert); Age: 32, Height: 5'5", Weight: 155 lbs, Blood: B+ Hector: Bark! Bark! Bark! Hector Estevez (Rita's Dog); Age: 10 months, Height: 65 cm, Weight: 80 lbs, Blood: DEA 1.1 Negative Rita: (innocently) Hey Hector, did you miss mommy? Did you? (Hector whimpers, having been missing Rita a lot) Rita: (innocently) Oh, you missed me a lot? (cute voice) Did you, did you, did you, did you? (normal voice and brushes Hector’s head) Come here boy. (Hector happily licks Rita’s face while Martine emits a deep and soft “awww” to them. Martine walks a few feet away from her friends and pulls out a stick leaving behind a red trail on the tip) Martine: Oh, Hector. You wanna catch that stick? It’s state-of-the-art, non? (Hector pants excitedly upon seeing the stick and instantly goes after it) Martine: (throws the stick) FETCH! Rita: (chuckles) Like these days back before the fire started... Martine: (uncertain) I hope you’re not meaning the original... you... Rita: Nah, don’t you remember? Rozetta Pierre and D... Martine: (shushes Rita) I know, I’m just messin' with toi. Seriously, let’s just keep it in the past. (In Rita’s back, Martine makes a concerned face, thinking about last night) Last night... (A panicking Martine swimming in scuba gear tries to escape Jones and King Platinum’s clutches. She then tries to leap to the yacht, only to be caught off-guard by Jones and pummeled by King Platinum) King Platinum: ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!!! Today (Martine shudders, still traumatized of the event. She also sees a blue figure standing behind a tree staring at Hector. Martine is perplexed and blinks twice before seeing nothing behind the tree) Martine: Rita? Rita: Yeah, Mars? Martine: Have you been seeing things? Rita: Really? Seeing things? (laughs) (Rita sees Martine being serious) Rita: Oh, is it something offending you? Sorry, but it’s normal for a soldier to see things happening around here, right? Martine: Does that include a blue fiery figure? BRRZZZT!!! Marine: RITA?!?! Rita: (panting and clenching her head) You... saw... it... too...? (The figure suddenly appears near Rita and Martine. Martine becomes shocked of what she sees: the figure’s armor being similar to Rita’s. The figure begins to attack Rita from behind with their fist, only to be stopped by Martine’s shield) Martine: Don’t you dare harm my sister, you vile piece of sh*t! (The figure fires a blue stream of fire at the two, who back away from the attack, barely escaping it. Martine draws her sword at the enemy, but she sees her burnt arm, now with the muscles exposed) Martine: What?! I didn’t even touch these flames! How did I... Rita: Martine, they’re making their move! Stay outta the way! (The enemy unleashes their powers by throwing several fireballs at the two, prompting them to run away from them while attempting to get closer to the enemy. Rita then uses her communicator to call somebody) Rita: (on communicator) TGI, call in Iron Woman! TGI: On it, Madam Estevez. (Martine draws two rapiers and dashes after the enemy, who makes a curve around the hero and kicks her back, only to her to disappear. The real Martine shows up and tries to stab the enemy, but they disappear and then appear in a flash seconds later, giving them the opportunity to tap Martine in the legs, the arms, the spine, and the neck while flashing about. Martine lands on the ground, confused) Enemy: Think what you want to do, but this battle is over. Martine: (eyebrow raised) What? (Martine tries to move her body, but much to her surprise, she doesn’t seem to move at all, not even her head. The enemy doesn’t bother to look and leaves, only to sense something wrong) PWWWWOOOOOMMMM!!! BAM!!! (The enemy is blasted down by a beam of quick energy, but they dodge the second shot in time. Rita, now suited up, confronts the enemy) Rita: You let go of my friend, you eldritch freak! (The enemy disappears in a blue flash. Rita acts quickly by shooting them again, only to see nothing again) Rita: He must’ve retreated. Heh, coward. (sees a paralyzed Martine and goes to her) Martin, are you... BLAM! (Rita is slammed in the face by the enemy, who suddenly appears in front of her) Rita: URRRGHH!!! Martine: RITA! (Bystanders begin to look by as the enemy beats up Rita with fiery fists, leaving burn marks behind the armor. The enemy then throws her to a dumpster) CRASH! (Rita collapses in defeat and exits her armor, now sweating and bleeding from her lips. The enemy approaches Rita with their left arm appearing as a heavy piece of armor) Rita: Damn you... (The enemy punches Rita down as bystanders become shocked of what’s happening. Martine, now regaining her movement, tries to get closer to the enemy, who steps on Rita’s neck to slowly crush it. An X-ray of Rita’s spine can be seen slowly burning and cracking from the enemy’s foot. Rita starts choking and tries to breath for help, to no avail. She then begins to feel her throat burning and sees fire coming out of her mouth before her eyes and skin lose their color, now beginning to die) SHISH!!! (The enemy flinches and moves forward, now with a sword impaling their chest. Martine is seen from a distance holding her sword hilt while backing off most of the paparazzi. Martine breathes heavily while the enemy turns to catch a glimpse of Martine. Unfazed of the wound, they throw the sword blade away and disappear in blue flames, leaving behind an injured Rita. Hector appears through the crowd in worry and whimpers upon seeing his burnt master. Martine approaches Rita with distress on her eyes) Martine: RITA? RITA?! RITA! ANSWER ME! RITA! RITA! (crying) COME ON, (shakes Rita) DON’T DO THIS TO ME! Rita: Ugh... (reaches out for Martine) Mars... Did I... Martine: (calming down) What? Rita: Did I see something unusual? Or is my bond with this woman real? Old Town's Local Garden, 11:20 AM (Rupert, Amir, and Gabriel are seen looking at several stone distortions in a garden while a few people outside watch. Blank and Nathan arrive with cynical and confused looks respectively) Amir Devani (Current Lab Chief of Grimsborough PD); Age: 25, Height: 5'8", Weight: 133 lbs, Blood: A-'' ''Gabriel Herrera (Grimsborough PD Profiler); Age: 37, Height: 5'9", Weight: 160 lbs, Blood: AB-'' Blank: So you're sayin' that you got yourself beat by an old man? Yep, that can happen to people who isn't Bruce Lee. Nathan: Look, hindsight, I didn’t know that was going to happen. And plus, Kit’s my old friend, so I never thought it would be him! Blank: Can really bite your tongue if you cross a '''Viper in the alley... or was it a house. Nathan: Quit it. The guys are here. Hi, Gabriel! What’s up? (to Rupert and Amir) And how are you... Robert and Amy? Is that it? '''''Nathan Pandit (Local Veterinarian); Age: 38 (biologically 37), Height: 5'11", Weight: 174 lbs, Blood: AB+ Rupert: (turns to Nathan and Blank with Amir) Sorry, but no, it’s Rupert AND Amir. I do believe we met you yesterday. Gabriel: (turns to Nathan and Blank) Oh, buon giorno, Nate, and who is this girl? No one hasn’t told us about her yet? Amir: (pointing to Rupert with his thumb) He did. Adamas Blank, isn’t it? Blank: (shrugs) Anything short or starts with an "A" or a "B" or whatever, I won't take notice. Nathan: (whistles a tune) Whatever you say, "Blanco". Blank: Well anyways, what are these stony curve claws doin' here in a garden? Doesn't look like it would be good tables here. Rupert: Because they aren’t. Though they remind me of how grandfather made something like these as… cover. Gabriel: Besides that, there is some Xerdan writing on these stones. Look at this one: “The enemy among these lines is blood only visible to other blood.” Amir: Strange. We don’t even know what this sentence means. So it could be another agent of ROZETTA still out there, right? Rupert: Not true. Sable International and a team of colorful agents seen more than in LGBT Pride Month managed to capture the rest of them all across NY after her death. There may be more people working for her on the run too. Gabriel: These lourpas are sure strange to be around here. (tries to lift up a lourpa) And it’s still stuck to the ground... Blank: "Lourpas"? Are we makin' up names now, Mario? Gabriel: (groans) Don’t call me that, and it’s not even my name. Blank: And these days can't be any better without another murder to solve, or somebody going to die in a least boring way possible… (Blank turns away from the team to take a look at the flowers on the bushes) Blank: Flowers… meaningful for love, passion, kindness, friendship, and the fate of knowing they will be taken down soon. Wouldn't last long like these people… (Blank gets a journal out and writes something on it. She then pops out a pack of Orbit gum and eats two pieces. Unbeknownst to the woman, a random tumbleweed passes by along with a gust of wind, making it hit a nearby tree. Three apples fall out of the tree and land on the bushes near Blank. After finishing her writing, Blank notices them) Blank: Hm. I wonder how they got here… (Blank takes the three apples and places them in a plastic bag while the team continues investigating the stones. A strange familiar woman in the crowd stares at Blank menacingly, focusing on the blue sketches stuck in the latter’s journal. She then leaves) BFFF! BFFF! BFFFFF! (Gabriel checks his phone and sees a text message from Gloria) Gloria's Text: Gabriel. Get your friends here right now! Rook and I found a lead! Gabriel's Text: Can you tell me? Gloria's Text: Meet us at the Xerdan arena, then we’ll talk. Gabriel: (putting his phone away) Team, we gotta go. The ruined arena may be an important and interesting historical lead for this case. Rupert: I haven’t been exploring much since five months ago, so at least I can enjoy a few memories. (The team leaves along with Nathan. Blank notices the team and follows them, who leave by car) Blank: Whelp, so much for going there on foot. (turns to see something and smirks) But things just keep getting better for me… (Blank, now seeing a motorbike, goes to it and starts it up with a crude tool that fits with the lock. Blank then drives off while a man looks by in anger and shock) Man: (going after Blank) HEY! The Xerdan Arena, 11:55 AM (Gabriel, Rupert, Amir, Nathan, Rita, and Martine meet each other near the arena, which is located in the Xerdan ruins) Martine: Gabriel, Rupert, Amir, and Nathan? What are you doing here? Amir: We would ask the same thing to you. Gloria and Rook demanded that we meet us here! (Gabriel shows his phone to Rita and Martine) Rita: So this isn’t a coincidence. We got a phone-call from her 20 minutes ago! (shows her phone with a call history, the recent call being Gloria’s) Rita: And why is Nathan here? He’s no longer affiliated with the police anymore! Nathan: But wasn’t I a former coroner there? It still doesn’t stop me to meet and join with my new yet-to-be friends here. Rupert: He does have a point, you know; he DID helped us yesterday in the S.A.R.A Space Center. (Martine sees faint tire tracks everywhere and becomes suspicious) Martine: (thinking) Tire tracks? Tch. Another vandal has shown up again? They won’t stop coming even after six months of refurbishing.... (Martine blinks her eyes once to spot the tire tracks, now shown in a wavy pattern in her vision) Martine: (thinking) I’ve never really noticed my Xerdan lineage back then. This type of vision is what I saw when I was about... 14? Judging by the shape and singular pattern, it’s a motorbike. (As the team is talking, Martine follows the tire tracks and traces them to somewhere around the arena. Seeing more tire tracks, Martine slowly gains speed to the point where she runs very fast enough to follow the tracks while the team is talking, oblivious to their teammate’s little investigation. Martine follows more of the tire tracks until she finds a baby blue motorbike placed still near the tracks) Martine: A Harley-Davidson? (draws her rapiers) Is this vandal trying to trick me? Blank: Nope, but she's telling you that her bike running out of gas. (Martine turns to Blank, who is holding a bucket full of gas and a orange funnel) Martine: (alarmed and pointing her rapier) Talk. What are you doing here? And who are you? Blank: (goes closer to Martine and examines her rapiers) Are these rapiers sharp, or do they look like they've been old enough to become historical antiques. You know, it would be better if you kept these things away from somebody's eye. FWIP! Martine: (irate) I’m asking a question, you délinquante! How can I trust some woman like you alone in this place?! Blank: You're a Frenchwoman, are you? (Martine glares more and has her rapier touch Blank’s skin) Blank: And you're also skilled with a sword too? Well, don't get me started on your fancy silk clothes and that animal fur jacket. You're friends are faraway from you, right? Then you must be a coroner from that excellent precision of yours. Martine: Are you saying that you’re a spy? Blank: I'm a cop, the new cop of your department. (showing her badge) Adams Blank. You can call me any name that starts with A or whatever. Apologies for the improper meeting. Martine: What are you doing running around in circles like that? Blank: Checking tabs on anything suspicious. Lucky for you that you didn't "Mad Maxed" for the last five months. (Blank walks away from a skeptical Martine to refuel the motorbike. Martine then goes back to the arena to find her team. While walking, Martine feels a slight tingle on her head and her eyes glow orange. Far from her, the menacing woman from before slowly walks to Martine holding a small piece of metal on her hand. She then throws it up the sky to reveal past images of the members of the Grimsborough Police Department present in the arena. In these images shown, Gloria converts her shields into armor, Rook uses an assault rifle to fire back at a corrupt Nathan, Rupert fights Martine in a field of bubbles, Martine brutally stabs Catherine Kelly, who was behind her, without bothering to look, Amir has various objects float up in the air, Nathan taking care of a hurt animal, Rita fixing her armor, and Blank using a camera to record something. The woman then catches the metal piece and spots Gloria and Rook behind a rock, only seen as a shining glimpse) (Behind the rock, Rook aims his sniper rifle at the woman while Gloria charges up her shields, ready to strike) Gloria: Are you sure she spotted us? Rook: (cocks his rifle) We wouldn’t have been wasting the last 35 minutes getting away from her if it weren’t for the slow traffic. I don’t blame them actually, but seeing how much damage these people are continuing keeps pissing me off! BANG! THUD! Gloria: Did you got her? Rook: ... (The woman is now seen on the ground, now dead with a bullet to her head and a pool of blood surrounding her. Rook blows out the smoke emitting from the rifle and leaves his sniping spot along with Gloria. They arrive to the dead woman and Rook checks her body) Gloria: Guess that Hitman trick worked after all. Now, let’s see who’s... (realizes something) Wait. Rook: (takes out wallet) Something the matter, Gloria? Did Doug got off loose again? (searches through the wallet) Gloria: We haven’t seen Dougland a few minutes ago, but this is something serious, Rook! Is this woman familiar to us? Rook: (takes out an ID) Would they? Maybe she might wearing the same... (Rook uncovers the ID and much to his shock, sees a picture of Stella Ziarati and her name, birth, height, weight, measurements, and the date of the card’s issue and expiration. Rook then sees Stella’s face) Rook: (shaken) STELLA ZIARATI?! But she’s dead for five years! How the living hell can she come back from the dead?! Gloria: (shaken) She wasn’t even the one resurrected by Jones yesterday! She was cremated last year! Rook: Could this be related to another superpowered being? Or is it just a prank involving Xerdan symbols plastered everywhere on her face? Gloria: (feels Stella’s skin) Possibly the latter. See? (knocks on Stella’s body) It’s body looks hard and fake. Teenagers can’t get enough of making plastic pranks, do they? It’s already one month after April Fools! (turns to Rook) Couldn’t we have another time to relax and recover? Rook: (alarmed) Speaking of recover... (points to someone) you should really look over there! (Gloria turns to where Rook’s pointing and her face becomes shocked than before. A tall, muscular, warrior-like woman clad in gold armor is revealed staring at them with a stoic glare from her titanium-like eyes) ドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドド (The warrior pulls out her large sword in a quick motion to cut Gloria in half vertically, but she only manages to “kill” an afterimage of her. Gloria, now armored and far from the warrior, throws a rock filled with purple energy that goes speeding at the warrior, only for it to stop and crumble into pieces releasing the purple energy emitted by Gloria. Rook fires his assault rifle at the warrior, but the bullets bounce off of her and Rook is instead grappled by what seems to be hands) Gloria: (speeding at the enemy) Rook! (Gloria tries to punch the hands, but they suddenly phase through her, making her trip and slide at a fast pace) Warrior: So humans have been advancing about on their tools and machines? Interesting... (Rook tries to break free from the hands by shooting them with his rifle, to no avail) Warrior: Metal from the earth won’t work on them, inferior man... and neither do I. Rook: (grunts) Who are you?! (Gloria rushes at the warrior to strike again, but the latter blocks with a sword and trades blows with the police detective. Despite Gloria steadily increasing the speed of her punches, the warrior effortlessly catches up and manages to catch Gloria off-guard with a blast of soul energy) Warrior: They are still underestimated by the likes of Xerdans? Pitiful at the least. Gloria: (struggles to get up) What the hell was that...? Some type of magic I’m too high to understand? Warrior: Fool, unlike you, I’ve been predicting tricks like these since the start of my era. Did Flo-Idde’s later offspring brought you there? (Nor'vanne kicks Gloria a great distance away from her as blue projections begin to appear out of nowhere, recreating a part of Xerda) Nor'vanne: At least they may become the audience to see our battle come and go. Thank you for leading me here after all these eons, Flo-Idde. You’ve done more than earn the respect of your fellow Xerdans. (Rook tries to shoot down Nor'vanne’s sword, but she has soul-like energy invade his body and put him under her control. Nor'vanne also mind controls Gloria far away with the energy. With Gloria on her side, the warrior and the two mind-controlled cops walk to the arena) Nor'vanne: Now, onward... (Blank is seen driving "her" motorbike to the Xerdan arena while turning her head around to find someone. Blank then pulls out her sketches and drawings of a familiar person in blue) Blank: (thinking) These five months ago, Rita Estevez was dead after stopping the neohuman invasion. The government, the news, S.A.R.A., and the military did their best to cover this up and restore Grimsborough. However, that wasn’t enough when ROZETTA started taking over. With what seems to be referred to as a Stand, she seemingly had the ability to manipulate time herself. I haven’t seen anything strange in my life, but I cannot help but recall all these three months ago... February 2019 (Blank, who is wearing a black trench coat instead of her gray hoodie and white sunglasses, is seen walking through town square. An unknown burning figure mindlessly walks behind Blake, either following her or moving around without any sense of direction) Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step... (Blank turns to see the figure, who stops when the woman sees it. The figure continues to make a few more steps while Blank follows it) Blank: (thinking) This may be the first time I saw a "Stand". Which is peculiar, as most people cannot see Stands or any of their effects. Could it be Ms. Estevez? Blank: Hey, ma'am. Isn't it past your curfew? They said that you need eight hours of sleep to start the day. Look at the moon and look at me. Come on, I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm busy right… (Blank reaches out for the figure’s hand, but she gasps upon seeing their hand quickly burn up into blue flames, preparing to hit the woman) Blank: OH CRAP! (The figure fights Blank by aimlessly throwing their fists around at her. Blank stays out of the entity’s punching range and throws a wastebasket at their face, only for it to burn into ash. The entity starts throwing fireballs at Blank while she tries to escape. Blank then finds a manhole cover and fire hydrant and tricks the entity to blowing the latter up, releasing a stream of water that the entity quickly avoids. Blank, who is now holding the cover, has the water redirect to the entity, blasting them away and extinguishing their fire. Blank later sees a figure witnessing the fight get slammed into a wall, reflecting the same damage for the entity. Blank then takes two photos and runs off) Blank: (thinking) For some reason, I couldn't find the entity anywhere in my pictures. At first, my knowledge of these Stand users are limited, but for all what I knew is that Stands are like ghosts and thus require a quick sketch, if one were to have a photographic memory, and damage to the Stand means damaging the user. I've faced that menace one too many times, but it's doesn't mean it's limited to me. Every encounter meant new information about my target. 19 of them I've recorded, so that must squeezed a lot of juice, just like the mysteries hidden in Xerda... (Other fights involving Blank and the mysterious Stand user are seen as the intern thinks. Blank goes inside the arena to see a blue flaming figure sparkling about, fire everywhere) Blank: Just my cue… (Blank jumps out of the motorbike and confronts the Stand user, whose gleaming blue visor glows at her presence) Blank: Hey, isn't it supposed to be a no smoking zone? Or has it came to your head that your the king/queen of England, Walt Disney? (Blank takes out a pack of cigarettes and brings them closer to the Stand user until they quickly burn one inch far from her. Blank quickly drops the pack as she sees it disintegrate into ash) Blank: You've improved, though you wouldn't go a step higher than Bruce Lee… (Blank pulls out a megaphone while keeping her distance away from the Stand user) Blank: (through the megaphone) Rita Estevez. Or is it someone that I've mistaken for a kid without balls? ("Rita" clenches her fist and blue flaming aura appears around her. Creating a blade from her arm, "Rita" quickly swings it at Blank, only for her to effortlessly dodge it and do a backflip to her motorbike) Blank: I knew it… I knew it all the time, Estevez. Come on, it wouldn't be that hard to release that estrogen out of your system, or is it the Berzelium stabbing your mind? ("Rita" walks to Blank, leaving behind a blue trail and about to reveal her Stand. Blank anticipates her enemy’s attack and starts up her motorbike) VROOM! VROOM! (Blank throws a bomb at "Rita", who now has her arm turn into blue flames) "Rita": BLAZE OF GLORY!!! (The Stand’s arm slices the bomb, only to find nothing but water vapor everywhere while Blank speeds away from the Stand user) Blank: The perfect decoy! Just enough time before I… BWOOMP!!! (Blank’s motorbike now shoots out flames and speeds away from the arena and "Rita", who now has her Stand’s arm out as a blade. Blank smirks a bit) Blank: Didn't you think you ever saw that coming? After nineteen dang fight scenes, I'm afraid, but not really, that I may put an end to this tiebreaker! Now, let us see who can take this gamble! (Blank continues speeding away from the Stand user, who uses her power to quickly warp more feet closer to Blank. Blank checks the mirror to see her rival and prepares to make her move) Near the arena... (Gabriel, Nathan, Amir, Rupert, Martine, and Rita are seen debating about the Xerdan arena) Rita: (arguing) What if this thing is like the whole Colosseum in Rome? Like all of these lions, tigers, bears, and other people fighting to their death? Rupert: (arguing) The arena must be something for everybody to enjoy here? What if it wasn’t about violence and a play instead? Martine: (arguing) Maybe men and women here use this arena to show off their fabuleux sex appeal as if they’re living magazine models! Amir: (arguing) There isn’t any scientific or historical proof that the Xerdan arena is used for entertainment purposes or obsession for bloodshed! We need to think way bigger than that! Nathan: (arguing) Couldn’t we just go inside to see the whole arena? I mean, we had Gabe, a good historian, solving these mysteries. Why not bring Alex along to help us here! Gabriel: (arguing) Guys! Guys! Settle down! We can all go into the arena if we keep... Nor'vanne: SILENT!!! (Everyone closes their mouths) Nor'vanne: All of you are wrong. And all of you have been chosen... (The warrior shows up with two of the mind-controlled heroes, much to the team’s shock) Nor'vanne: ...to witness OUR fight in the Urxakabdan Stone Ring! (draws her sword) As I meant in OUR, I mean HER! (Nor'vanne points her sword at Martine, who gulps in surprised fear. The team stares at Nor'vanne, unsure of what they’re going to do now) To be continued... Category:Blog posts